Breaking Eighty by Charles Halsted

Charles Halsted finds the powerful, haunting, tiny moments within a story and shows his reader there are entire worlds in them. Writing as a physician, he knows how to save someone’s life and also how to stand “silently by, awe stricken.” With humor, with reverence, in awe of the “master molecule” and “orange-flamed trees,” these moments can be shocking, heartbreaking, and heartfelt. In this collection, the fleeting moment is caught and held with tenderness. These are poems brimming with life.

–Lauren Hilger, poetry editor of No Tokens and author of the poetry collection Lady be Good  (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2016).

In Breaking Eighty, the reader is taken on a journey through the peaks and valleys of being human. We begin with the child fighting monsters in the attic and conclude with a Grandfather lovingly explaining the scientific method to his granddaughter. In between, with compassion and lyrical precision, the poet illuminates the American experience. He brings to light the usual suspects: male rites of passage, war, racism, homelessness, fly-fishing, romance and more, with the eye of a physician and the informed awareness of a professor. A beautiful book.

–Caroline Goodwin, author of Trapline, Peregrine and The Paper Tree.